Inuvik Correctional Facility

Background

This correctional facility in Inuvik was designed as a rehabilitation place for female young offenders. Its extreme northern latitude (above the Arctic
Circle), combined with the fact that in the winter there are
24 hours of darkness, provided a challenge to the architects
in deciding how to minimize energy costs and
consumption. The territorial Department of Justice, who
administers the building, was proactive in their desire to
use renewable technology on their buildings.

Solution

The result was a hybrid, 800 ft2 (75 m2) SolarWall®
system that was designed to preheat both ventilation air and water.
As it is a residential facility, the water heating requirements
are much higher than a normal building because of
the continuous need for heated water in the kitchen, bathroom
and laundry.Hybrid systems work very well in the far north; the heat
collected by the SolarWall system is first used to heat
ventilation air, with the remaining heat going towards
heating the water. This is designed to make the system very cost effective.In the spring and fall it is very cold outside, but also very
sunny. During this time, the light reflects off the snow onto
the wall, enhancing the performance of the SolarWall air heater.
This more than compensates for the shortened duration
during the day. In the summer when there is 24 hours of daylight and no
need for heated ventilation air. This means that all the collected heat is used to heat the water.